Layered Chocolate Cheesecake for an Italian Holiday Feast

An Italian Holiday Feast is a marvelous idea for your holiday dinner menu when you gather with friends and family! And my dessert recipe for a stunning, decadent layered chocolate cheesecake will put the finishing touches on your holiday meal. 

Why You Must Make

• This rich, luscious Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe is perfect for any celebration.
• Chocoholics will swoon with their first bite.
• This dessert will serve a crowd as only small slices are needed to get your fix!

The Perfect Ending for a Holiday Dinner or Italian Feast

Italians celebrate Christmas in the true spirit of the season, sharing their love of magnificent food with their families. Many will observe the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. Before Midnight Mass, a wonderful meal featuring at least seven seafood dishes is served. We non-Italian Catholics, along with the Italians, abstain from meat on Fridays of Lent, but it’s also common in many Italian-American homes to also abstain before the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve when the Christ child was born.

My carnivore family tends to eat a pork roast or tenderloin on Christmas Eve, but this pasta with sausage and cream recipe, chock-full of Italian sausage, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and spices, would be a delicious entree for our Italian Holiday Feast. I used Colavita spinach nests, artichoke hearts, and olive oil to whip up this easy, flavorful pasta. As a bonus, this picture-perfect pasta echoes the classic Christmas colors of red and green! Perfect for an Italian Holiday Feast!

Ideal Dessert for Chocoholics

Besides categorizing my family as carnivores, they’re also bona fide chocoholics. A truly decadent chocolate dessert is a MUST for all holidays. When I was sent both white and bittersweet Perugina chocolate bars, I knew I’d have to create an uber chocolaty dessert featuring them both for this Italian Holiday Feast.

A double-decker cheesecake fit the bill, starting with a chocolate cookie crust, then a dark chocolate followed by a white chocolate cheesecake layer. I  could not resist gilding the lily with Perugina Baci, exquisite hazelnut filled chocolate bonbons. The perfect way to end a holiday feast. If you love chocolate mousse, this layered mousse cake is another divine dessert!

Recipe Tips

• PRO-Tip: As with all cheesecakes, don’t overmix the batter. It shouldn’t be whipped, as that will incorporate air and the cheesecake won’t have the ,classic dense consistency.
• PRO-Tip: Use an offset spatula to smooth the layers. This will help make the layers level.
• If you can’t find Perugina Baci, use any favorite chocolate candies to garnish. Of course, this cheesecake will be delicious even without garnishing, but it’s a nice option of serving on a special occasion.
• PRO-Tip: When I first made this dessert, many years ago, Nabisco Famous wafers were easy to find. Now, it’s best to buy a box of Oreo crumbs or make the crumbs yourself by grinding the cookie part (remove the filling) of a package of Oreos. Use what you need, then you can freeze any leftover crumbs for later.

More Holiday Feast Recipes:

• Honey Brined Turkey
• Classic Prime Rib Recipe
• Rack of Lamb
• Homemade Cheesecake Recipes
• Cheesecake Filled Carrot Cake
• Apple Crisp Cheesecake
• More Holiday Recipes

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The Recipe:

Layered Chocolate Cheesecake

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Additional Time 4 hours

Total Time 6 hours 5 minutes

Yield 16

A delicious, layered cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust, then vanilla and chocolate cheesecake layers.

4.9 Stars (11 Reviews)

Ingredients

Crust:

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• 1 package of chocolate wafers (9 ounces)
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Cheesecake:

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• 8 ounces Perugina Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped
• 6 ounces Perugina White Chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 packages cream cheese (8 ounces each), at room temperature
• 1 ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon hazelnut liqueur (I use Frangelico)
• Perugina Baci, optional, to garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325º. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray and wrap the bottom with two sheets of heavy-duty foil. Set aside.
2. Pulse the cookies in a food processor to make crumbs. Add melted butter and sugar and pulse to mix. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan and about 1-inch up sides of the pan. Bake for about 8 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.
3. Melt the bittersweet chocolate gently in the microwave, using 30-second increments, stopping to stir before restarting, till melted. Repeat with white chocolate. Set aside.
4. In your mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar till well mixed and fluffy. Mix in the flour, then the eggs, one at a time. Add the cream and vanilla.
5. Add 2 ¼ cups of the cheesecake batter to the white chocolate and stir. Mix hazelnut liqueur into the white chocolate mixture; set aside. Add the dark chocolate to the remaining cheesecake batter and mix to combine.
6. Pour the dark chocolate batter over the crust and bake for 50 minutes. Place in a water bath if desired to minimize cracking. Cool for 5 minutes.
7. Carefully spoon dollops of white chocolate cheesecake mixture over the top of the cheesecake. Smooth with an offset spatula. Return to the oven and bake 35 minutes till the center is set. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
8. To serve, run a knife around the perimeter of the pan and release the sides. Garnish with Baci (candies) and whipped cream if desired.

Notes

Note: Chocolate Wafers from Nabisco have been discontinued, but you can find boxed Oreo crumbs or make your own in a food processor (you can scrape out the filling if desired).

Recommended Products

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• 
  KitchenAid KSM150PSER Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield, 5-Quart, Empire Red
• 
  Food Processor
• 
  9-inch springform pan

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 67mgSodium: 87mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 14gProtein: 4g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

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